Daijoubu
by yukixed
Summary: It was his last wish. The very last wish.


Daijoubu

Story by: Yuki

* * *

His time had stopped the moment the trigger sounded. The one who should have been lying on the ground covered in blood was him. But, he never once expected, the person he "hated" the most would've taken the shot for him. The blonde's white inner shirt was soaked red and he lay on the ground without moving an inch. It was raining that day and his warmth quickly faded despite the other hand clinging onto his, pleading that the blonde would open his eyes once more.

"Wake up… Wake up…"

He repeated his words over and over again. Drenched in the cold rain, his eyes darkened with despair. Pleading hopelessly, powerless in the face of death, he gritted his teeth in exasperation. He couldn't help but allow the tears he held back flow of their own accord.

"Shizu-chan… Wake up, please…"

He called out to the blonde but there was still no response. Putting his hands around the blonde, he began to blame himself. His heart was aching and emotions were overflowing. He wasn't a man to get emotional over the man he claimed he hated. But he couldn't stop himself from breaking through the shield he created for himself.

If he didn't want to get hurt, he had to hide part of himself: the part which hated humans. If he only loved them, he would be able to stop himself from getting overly involved with them by just being an "observer" and enjoy watching them. But Shizuo was the only person he couldn't do that to… Why? No matter how much he tried to distance himself from Shizuo, he couldn't help but get involved with Shizuo's life; it would mean that he still had a part in Shizuo's heart.

Maybe he was just lonely and he knew Shizuo wouldn't leave him alone as long as he was alive, as long as he was in Ikebukuro, as long as he had a place in Shizuo's heart. Now, he would never be able to hear Shizuo's cries of fury and the call of his name. Now… Shizuo was gone.

Wait, no! He would never let that happen. He would never let the man "Heiwajima Shizuo" disappear. Unlike someone like himself whom no one would care about, Shizuo still had friends and his younger brother waiting for him. He couldn't let him die here; he still wanted to hear Shizuo call out to his name one more time. And so, he did the irreversible.

It had been a week since then and he had everything prepared. He finished completing whatever he needed to do, to "disappear" from Ikebukuro. He sat on his chair, smiling like always, but it was a weak smile of fatigue. It was time.

_"I don't need a world without you…"_

His words resounded in the cold empty room. He was always alone and it was so quiet on a regular basis that it seemed normal to him. Waiting for time to pass, he slowly opened up the old book he hid a photo in. It was a photo of them in their middle school days. Back then, it was just him, Shinra and Shizuo. Closing his eyes tightly, he imagined the blonde calling his name once again. Entering the hidden room behind the bookshelf, he told himself that that was all he needed. He just wanted someone to call out his name, he just wanted someone to never let go of him and he will bring back the person who will do all those for him now.

In a deep slumber within a huge experimental pod lay Heiwajima Shizuo, enclosed within the liquids. Several plugs and needles were inserted into his body to keep him alive; his heart was dying. The bullet that day had taken away his life, slowly but surely.

He slowly put his hand on the icy cold glass surface.

"I'll let you out of here soon, Shizu-chan."

He slowly place his head against the glass surface and thought to himself…

"If you wake up before I'm gone, call out my name so I can hear you, alright?"

It was his last wish. _The very last wish._

"Do you really want to do this? No one blames you for what happened."

A voice came from the back abruptly.

"Shinra, knock next time, will you?"

Shinra cringed slightly as his expression turned sour.

"There won't be a next time…"

He smiled while looking at Shinra, the one other person who cared about him perhaps. They had been friends since middle school and Shinra had never left him nor Shizuo in the lurch.

"It's fine. I'm the one who decided to do this after all."

He smiled again, this time it was a smile to reassure Shinra. If all went well, this could be his very last chance to save Shizuo after all.

"He was an idiot to block that bullet for me."

That night, two fates were exchanged as they both lay upon the operation table. Holding hands with Shizuo, he closed his eyes.

_"This is probably the last time I'll see you again."_

Shinra picked up the scalpel, wiping away his tears to stop them from clouding his vision. This was all he could do for that person.

During the operation, Shizuo heard a voice calling him from faraway. It was a voice he both hated and loved, it was the voice of that annoying flea. He was being called back from the darkness into the light but by the time he woke up, there was no longer any voice calling out to him. He was just in an empty room with bandages around his chest.

"Where am I…? Izaya? Izaya?!"

That was the name of the first person he called out to; he was positive he heard that annoying flea somewhere but it was just silent echoes resounding in his ears right now. All he remembered was taking a bullet for Izaya then… What happened?

Shizuo continued shouting out that person's name in fury, in confusion, in fear. Did something happen to him?

"Shizuo."

"Iza—"

The one who came into the room was Shinra. He bit his lips, not knowing how to break the news to Shizuo at all.

"Shinra, where is Izaya?"

All Shinra could do was point towards the hidden door behind the shelf.

Shizuo carefully opened the door. With every step he took, he felt his heart beating harder than ever. He had a bad feeling as to what he would see next and his premonition was right.

In replacement of Shizuo, it was now Izaya lying down inside the experimental pod. His eyes were closely shut and he could no longer be exposed to the outer world.

"What… is this?"

Shizuo's mind was in a turmoil.

"You were shot and nearly died. Your heart was dying and so… Izaya, he… gave you his heart."

Shinra clenched his fists… His nails sunk deep into his skin, he shouldn't have agreed to Izaya's request but there wasn't any way to say no.

"Then… give it back to him. Give Izaya's heart back to him now!"

"Shizuo… I can't do that. Your heart was keeping you alive but Izaya doesn't have a heart anymore. All this experimental pod is doing is preserving how he looks, he's been long gone."

"No… I… Izaya… Izaya…"

Shizuo kneeled, breaking down in tears, calling out the name of the person who saved him, loved him and hated him all at the same time. Nevertheless, Izaya's wish was fulfilled; Shizuo called out to him, only that he could no longer hear it.

"Shizuo, Izaya told me to tell you this… It didn't sound like what he would usually say but he just said…"

_"I'm living inside of you, so live on, along with my share."_

Inside the room, where the three friends were reunited, cries of agony resounded.

Shizuo decided to keep Izaya inside the pod and protect his body at the very least; they were going to "live" and "die" together.

A translucent silhouette which no one could see hugged Shizuo from behind.

_"大丈夫よ、大丈夫…静ちゃん。"__(It's alright, it's alright... Shizu-chan.)_

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Yuki: Okayyyyyy... Even I find this a little too angsty myself but I didn't know how to portray this relationship between them and this was the first idea that came to mind so I just wrote it. It doesn't sound very Izaya-ish perhaps since I would say he's a lot more of a crazier guy but I like him that way so that's that. I mainly wrote this with the mindset that both Shizuo and Izaya would sacrifice their lives for the other without thinking so yeappp... Hope you all like it.^^ I welcome reviews so feel free to leave your thoughts behind; I enjoy reading


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